St. Agnes School gets donation from Rotary

Christmas Bazaar attracts big crowd

December 3, 2012

LAKE PLACID - The Lake Placid Rotary Club has donated $1,000 to St. Agnes School to support a new writing program.

Rotarians Sean Donovan and Don Woodlief were at the Catholic school's annual Christmas Bazaar on Saturday to present a check to the school's teaching administrator, Catherine Bemis, and the Rev. John Yonkovig, pastor at St. Agnes Catholic Church. The Rotary Club holds two fundraisers every year so it can provide financial support to local literacy programs.

Woodlief said he read about St. Agnes' new "Writing Across Curriculum" program in the Enterprise earlier this year, and then reached out to Bemis to find out more about it.

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The Lake Placid Rotary Club donated $1,000 to St. Agnes School on Saturday to support a new writing program. From left are the Rev. John Yonkovig, pastor at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Catherine Bemis, teaching administrator at St. Agnes School, and Rotarians Don Woodlief and Sean Donovan.(Enterprise photo — Chris Morris)

Shoppers check out the goods at the St. Agnes Christmas Bazaar, held at the Catholic school’s gymnasium on Saturday in Lake Placid.(Enterprise photo — Chris Morris)

"It's the kind of program we support," he said.

The pre-kindergarten-through-third-grade program aims to integrate writing into every subject daily, including during physical education classes and lunch times. Bemis said the goal is to make sure students are fluent at writing starting at an early age.

Meanwhile, hordes of holiday shoppers packed the St. Agnes gymnasium to buy Christmas gifts. The annual bazaar is a popular holiday tradition in Lake Placid, and Bemis noted that proceeds help underwrite tuition costs at the school.

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Vendors sold Olympic-themed items, baked goods, decorations, toys and more. The event also featured a noon visit from Santa.